Vote To Kick
The Vote to Kick is a special technique designed to allow players to force out any who, through action or inaction, are placing the success of the Squad in doubt. It is instigated and confirmed via the Start button menu during combat. Voting The Vote to Kick requires just over 50% approval in order to activate. In a full Squad, this means that 4 players have to agree with the initiator that the targeted player should indeed be voted out. Reasons For Kicking The most common reason for kicking a player is if they have an unfortunate habit of being unable (or unwilling) to differentiate between "Friend" and "Foe", more normally called "Friendly Fire" or "Blue on blue". Although the game will automatically kick the player in question should they kill a certain number of their allies, most players prefer to get rid of the loose cannons as soon as possible, thus allowing them to concentrate on killing the enemy. The second most common reason, unfortunately, seems to be improper usage of a Headset. Any player who over-utilises swearing, cursing or who hurls insults at other players who make mistakes may find themselves Kicked without mercy. A sub-variant of this relates to those who use the PS3 Camera/Microphone, the PS3 C/M's ability to gather ambient-noise means that other players may become irritated at the constant background music or interruptions. Ditto, anyone in Squad Leader or Platoon Leader positions who does not have a Headset may find themselves being Kicked due to their lack of foresight which has imperilled the Squad. Another reason for being kicked is teamkilling in which a player stands at a spawn point and kills their own teammates that are respawning and/or are running around killing their own teammates for no apparent reason, or if they want a sniping spot that is currently occupied; killing their teammate because they want that spot immediately. (much like a child snatching a toy off another because they "want it now"). Aside from the aforementioned legitimate reasons, it is also not uncommon to encounter votes to kick a player simply because said player is not a member of the prevailing clan in a squad or squads, a player is too new to the game or low level (therefore more likely to damage the squad's performance, though through both an inadequate implementation of signage on Deploy screens and general ignorance on the part of many players, Veterans find themselves on the receiving end of these unjustified kicks as often as genuine beginners), a player's gear or playing style is not the preferred gear or playing style of another player, or myriad other myopic and/or utterly childish reasons. Avoiding Being Kicked It is highly recommended that those seeking command positions acquire a Headset and/or a PS3 Camera/Microphone. This will allow them to lead their Squad, incidently proving their right to lead. Avoiding bad language is considered by many a common courtesy, as is NOT shooting your team-mates in the back or stabbing them. Yes, occasionally a wrong button is pressed, but try to be careful in close quarters. Be especially careful of the R3 button, it is all too easy to accidently press it while trying to heal someone. If that happens, apologise at once (a Headset may be very useful there). Listen to your Squad leader and try to keep in the correct general area of the Battlefield. If you are assigned to take B, please squelch the impulse to rampage at A. If a Vote is launched against you, try to find out what you are doing wrong and correct your behaviour accordingly. If you don't have a Headset, ignore this bit of advice. After all, there's no helping some people... Finally, you can always resign. Although you do not gain any points, at least you prevented them from being able to actually follow through with the Vote to Kick.